Indicating device for internal-combustion engines



March 27, 1928.

1,663,600 S. JENCICK INDICATIING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL coMBUsTIoN ENGINES Filed Maoh 30. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 S. JENCICK INDICATING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES March 27, 1928.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30. 19,21

To Engine Cylinders M/Mw@ 'mgm FM lmatented" lidar. 27, 192%.

ATES .IATENT 0F STEPHEN JENCICK, @F CHAGRIN FALLS, GHR).

FICE.

' .application nled March 30, 192i. Serial No. $56,909. l

rlhis invention relates to improvements in in dicating devices for internal combustion engines and, as to common subject matter, is a continuation of my (zo-pending application, Ser. No. 320,958, tiled August 30, 1919.

is in my co-pending application just referred to, it is the object of this invention to provide means for indicating to the operator of an internal combustion engine, as tor instance, in a motor vehicle7 the working condition of the motor system with respect lto the dow and temperature ofthe lubricating oil and the pressure in the lubricating system as well as the dangerously low level of the oil. lt is furthermore the object of the present invention to indicate at a point within full view of the/operator the condition of the lubricating Yoil in the engine with respect to its specific gravity so as to indicate the proportion ot impurities in the oil and hence when necessary because of such impurities.

'.lhe importance of this last provision will be realized when it is recalled ythat the gasolene of today often contains impurities such, for inst-ance, as kerosene and other oils ot lower speciic gravity than that of the standard lubricating oil. Such impurities having higher points of vaporization thanl gasolene are not exploded in the engine but pass on through the engine in liquid form and lind their way into the oil in the bearings and elsewhere. lThis fact is evidenced by the increase in the volume of oil after an engine has beeri running for sometime, when one would naturally expect to find rather a diminution in the Y.quantity of the oil. Kerosene and such other impurities not having the same lubricating properties'as the standard lubricating oil permit a premature and undue heating of the parts. Such rise in temperature will of course be indicated by the thermometer in my device but there being other causes for rise in temperature and the thermometric indication being dependent upon the operation of the engine fora greater or less length of time. I have provided a means for indicating to the operator at all times the actual condition of the oil with respect to its specific gravity, or in other words, the percentage of such' impurities carried by the oil. Thus the operator can at all times see.` at a glance when to renew the oil and can in this way avoid the danger of undue heating of the parts.

to renew the oil Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Fig; 1 is a front elevation of the indicating device; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detailed elevation from the left in Fig. 2, the rear casing member being removed to exposefinterior parts; Fig. l is a detail section on a larger scale on line 4 4, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the application of the indicator to the lubricating system of an internal combustion engine; Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional elevation on a larger scale on the line 6 6, Fig. 5; and Fig/K' is a sectional view taken on the line 7 7, Fig. l. l

.1 represents the main oil reservoir of an internal combustion engine, either a stationary engine o`r such an engine as used upon a motor vehicle. lin this reservoir is maintained a supply of lubricant which is circulated by a suitable pressure pump 2 through the pipe 3 to the engine cylinders and pistons and to the various shafts and other working parts of the motor system, as is usual7 the used oil being returned to the reservoir 1. A branch pipe l conducts a small portionI of the lubricant to the indicating instrument, indicated generally at 5, from which instrument said lubricant is returned to the reservoir through the pipe 6. In a stationary internal combustion engine the indicator 5 may be located at any desirtill Sti

able point-visible to the' operator of the engine, such as on a part of the engine itself or on an indicating board at some distance trom the engine. ln a motor vehicle the indicating instrument 5 may be located upon the dash board or at any other point visible to the driver of the car while driving the same, as will be readily understood.

The indicating instrument 5 includes a hollow casing member held in.a frame 8 adapted for attachment to a support. The front of said casing is closed by a transparent window 9 held in place by a ring 10. In said casing is located a hollow member 11 sealed to the outer casing by a gasket 12 and held against said gasket by the pressure of the ring 13.- This member 11 includes a transverse wall 14 which divides the space within the casing into a front indicating chamber 15 and a rear oil chamber 16. The

wall 14 may be made of transparent material or, if of metal, may be provided With a suitable transparent window 16a, to enable the flow of oil through the chamber 16 to be observed, as will appear. Said wall is also provided with a rearwardly extending portion 18 forming a recess 19 in the chamber 15 to receive the bulb of a thermometer 20 which is suitably attached to the front face of the wall 14 and which eX- tends vertically along the same at one side of window 16a.

Member 11 is provided with a rearwardly extending tubular member 21 threaded or otherwise adapted for connection to the pipe 4. This member 21 extends out through the rear wall 22 of the casing, and said wall has secured therein-a similar tubular member 23 likewise adapted for connection to the pipe 6.

1n the rearward extension 21 of member 11 is a laterally extending passage 24 closed at its outer end by a plug; 25 and communieating with the pipe 4 by a passage 26. This passage 24 serves as the chamber of a` cylinder in which is located a suitable movable abutment 27, such as a diaphragm or piston, the latter being shown, said abutment being provided with a leak port for permitting re stricted flow of lubricant thereby, such for example, as the longitudinal extending port or ports 28. The piston rod 29, at its outer end slides in an opening in a boss 30 of the member 1l and at its free end has secured thereto a block 31. 32 indicates a light pressure 'spring normally tending to retract the piston to the position shown in Fig. 2. In an .opening of a second boss 33 of member 11 is a rotatable shaft 34 provided in chamber 15 with a hand or pointer 35 travelling over a scale 36 graduated to indicate the degree of pressure. The operating connection between the pointer and piston is as follows:

Block 31 has pivotally connected thereto one end of a link 37, whose opposite end is pivotally connected to an arm or disc 38 attached to the end of shaft 34. Said shaft,

just beneath the disc 38, has a conical or tapered valve portion 39 fitting a tapered scat 40 at the mouth of the opening through the boss 33. Said valve is suitably held to its seat such as by a. light leaf spring 41 cara` ried by a projection 42 of the member 11.

lVith this arrangement, flow of lubricant through the pipe 4 produces pressure in the chamber 24 and depresses the piston 27 in Fig. 2. At the same time some lubricant finds an outlet through the leak port or ports 2i and passes the piston. Nevertheless, the piston is advanced to an amount depending upon the pressure of the lubricant. The advance of said piston moves outwardly the block 31, which through the link 37 turns the disc 38 and moves the pointer 35 over pressure. The scale 36 can, of course, be y calibrated' by tests with standard pressures. The connections from the piston to the pointer is of simple form and by positive Inechanical means avoids any possible leakage of lubricant from the oil chamber 16 to the indicating chamber 15. Spring 41 holds the valve 39 to its seat with suiiicient pressure to avoid leakage and yetallows proper rotation of 'the pointer without effect upon the indicating ability of the instrument.

Such oil as passes the piston 27 through the by-pass pgrts 28 drops downwardly in the chamber 16, usually fiowing down along the piston rod and dropping from the end thereof directly upon the rc-entrant portion 18 of the member 11. It consequently passes across the window 16a so that the operator is afforded visible indication of the flow of oil. Pointer 35 by its movement also indicates the existence of pressure and at the same time registers the degree of pressure. The flow of oil over the bulge 18 affects the bulb of the thermometer 2O which is enclosed in the recess of'said bulge. Consequently the thermometer indicates fairly accurately the temperature of the flowing lubricant and indicates to the operator the thermal or working conditions of the motor to which the lubricant is being applied. The instrument so far described, therefore, is a combination sight feed, pressure gauge and thermal indicator.

Suitable means is also provided for caus" ing any one or more of these three indicating means to also `serve as an indicator of dangerously low level of oil in the main reservoir. p

For this purpose the delivery pipe 6 which carries the oil back to the reservoir 1 is provided with means sensitive to the level of the oil in said reservoir forobstructing the return of oil thereto. For example, in Fig. 6, the delivery end of the pipe 6 is provided with a fairly large hollow casing 43 provided at its lower end with a valve seat 44 to receive a valve member 45 whose rod 46 is carried by a float 47. Float 47 is of fairly large size having suflicient buoyance so as not to be appreciably affected by the pressure of the oil owing through the pipe 6.

Withthis arrangement, as the level of oil lowers, the float 47 drops until finally it reaches a position where the valve 45 reaches its seat '44, thereby closing the outlet from the pipe 6. The parts are so adjusted or located that this position is reached when the level of oilrin the reservoir is such that-,replenishment is necessary, as before stated. The closure of the outlet from pipe 6 traps the oil between the pump and the valve 45. Consequently, all further flow through pipes 4 and 6 stops. In this condition the pressures above and below the piston 27 are equalized and the spring 32 returns the pointer 85 to its initial or zero position. At the same time the flow ot' oil past the window 16a stops and it the condition persists for an appreciable period the temperature ot oil in the chamber 16 drops and a drop in temperature is indicated on the thermometer. As a consequence, with this system, any otherwise unexplained indication of tall oitemperature, of filling up of the chamber 16 and failure of .sight indication of flow of oil, or the return of the hand 35 to Zero position, indicates that the' level of' oil is dangerously low and lshould be replenished.

Formed integrally with the wall 14 which is, in this case, of non-magnetic material, is the compartment 48 provided with a sealed closure 49. A ring 50 is provided upon the closure for removal ot the same. rThis compartment is provided with a channel connection 51 communicating with duct 51a which opens into the tubular member 21 so as to lead oil to an opening in the side wall and near the bottom of the compartment 45, the channel and duct being of suliiciently small cross section that they will not seriously affect the pressure of the oil upon the piston 27. As indicated, the walls of channel 51 are also integral withl the wall 14, and the duct 51a is to one side of the cylinder chamber 24. A suitable battle plate 52 is provided in the lower portion of the compartment 48 so as to prevent undue agitation ot the oil. The float 55 encloses the magnet 56 and also' a suitable number oi shot or other weights 57, all parts of the float being designed and arranged so that it will float upon the surface of the oil contained within the compartment 48 when the specific gravity of such Aoil corresponds to that of standard -lubricating oil. Overflow apertures 58 are provided in the side walls of the compartment 48, the excess oil which overflows through these openings assing out into the chamber 16 and thence t rough the conduit 28. Suitably mountedVA upon the trunnion 6O'Xin the wall 14 is the indicator of non-magnetic material. Upon one end of this indicator 65 is mounted the magnetic plate-66 opposite to and for co-operation with the magnet, while the other end of the needle or indicator extends across the face of my indicating device and terminates in close proximity to the scale 36. The two marks 67 and 68 are provided upon the face of the indicatingl device in such a manner with respect to the float device that when the specific gravity of the oil contained within the compartment. 48 is the same as i the standard lubricating oil, as torinstance,

when a new supply of lubricating oil has been placed in the engine, the needle of the indicator will point tothe mark New oil as indicated at 67 and when the specific gravity of the oil has been lowered by the presence of certain impurities as, for instance, kerosene, the ioat 55 will fall and through influence ot the magnet upon plate 66 will cause the needle or indicator to travel toward the mark Change oil indicated at 68. With this arrangement the condition ot the oil with respect to its speciiic gravity is indicated directly and unmistakably at a point within full view of the operator and in close association with the other indicating means. 'lhus the operator is advised as to when it is necessary to renew the lubricating oil in the engine, and is thereby enable-d to preclude undue heating oit the parts.

@ther advantagesctlowingv from this inn vention will be apparent to those who are familiar with the art to which it relates.

Having described my invention, l claim: l. rllhe combination with the oil circulating system of a motor vehicle, of a single instrument adapted for location on the vehicle ina position visible to the driverin his seat, such'instrument including means for indieating the flow of oil through said system, means for indicating the pressure of the oil, means for indicating its temperature, means whereby the aforesaid means also indicates y approaching low level of oil in said system, and means for indicating the speciic gravity of the oil.

2. Indicatmg mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing. provided v with an oil chamber, a movable member outsideof said chamber forindicatlng the specitic gravity of the oil'therein, and means y Within said chamber adapted to be alected according to the specific gravity of the. oil f circulated therethrough for operating said member.

3. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided with an oil chamber, a movable member outside of said chamber for indicating the specific gravity of the oil therein, and magnetically operated -neans adapted to be affected according to the specific gravity of the oil circulated through said chamber for operating said member.

4. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided with an oil chamber, a movable member outside of said chamber for indicating the specic gravity of the oil therein, and mag-f y netic means within said chamber adapted to be affected according to the speciic gravity of the oil circulated therethrough for operating said member. Y

5. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided with anfoil chamber, a movable member outside of said chamber Jfor indicating the specie gravity of the oil therein, andv float means within said chamber adapted to be atected according to the specific gravity of the oil circulated therethrough for operating said member.

6. :indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided With an oil chamber, a movable member outside of said chamber for indicating the spe- ,citic gravity of the oil therein, and magnetic float means Within said chamber adapted to beniiected according to the specilic gravity of the oil circulated therethrough for operating said member.

7. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided with an oil chan'iber having a communicating compartn'icnt, a loat in said compartment controlled by the specific gravity of the oil therein, and a movable indicator operatively associated with said float.

8. indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided With an oil chamber having a communicating compartment, a magnetic float in said com*- partment controlled by thespeciiic gravity of the oil therein,and a movable indicator operatively associated with said float.

9. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising aA casing provided with an oil chamber, means affected by the pressure otl oil in the chamber lfor producing an indication, and means affected in accordance With the specificl gravity of the oil therein for producing another indication.

10. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided with an oil chamber, means for indicating `the flow of oil therethrough, and means affeeted according to the specific gravity of the oil therein for producing another indication.

11. lindicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided With an oil chamber, means for indicat-ing the ioW of oil therethrough, means ali'ected by the pressure of oil through said chamber for producing another indication, and means affected according to the specic gravity of the oil therein for producing aning to the specific gravity of the oil in the' 'chamber for producing another indication.

13. Indicating mechanism for oil circulating systems, comprising a casing provided with an oil chamber, means for indicating the flow of oil therethrough, means affected according to the temperature of the oil in the chamber for producing an indication, and means aiected according to the specific gravity of the oil in the chamber for producing another indication.

14. The combination With an oil circulating motor vehicle, of a single instrument adapted for location in a position visible to the driver in his seat, said instrument including means for indicating the flow of oil through said system, means for indicating the oil pressure, means for indicating the oil temperature, means whereby the aforesaid means also indicates approaching low level of oil in said system, and means for indicating the presence of liquid impurities in the oil in said system.

In testimony whereof I hereby aix my signature.

STEPHEN JENCICK. 

